Frozen Fractals
by jillian101
Summary: Loki wants to know what's so funny about Jane's song choice and turns to Darcy Lewis, resident godsitter and fount of cultural knowledge for help.


Disclaimer: Obviously, I own nothing.

Frozen Fractals

Darcy Lewis: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Like anyone would have believed that a year ago. Yet here she was, sitting in a cubicle in S.H.I.E.L.D's New York facility working up a report for Natasha Romanoff on her progress in teaching their resident God of Mischief to assimilate into Midgardian culture. _LESSON 1: stop calling it Midgard. _It had seemed a crazy idea at first, letting Loki loose on Earth. This was after all the man who had not only invaded New York and made a completely banana balls speech in Germany, but had attempted to destroy an entire realm. Yet here he was and Darcy once again found herself pondering why on Earth she had been chosen to God-sit.

As she pondered, Darcy failed to notice the entrance of the God himself, who had come up to her desk with his usual quiet steps. Of course this meant that when he cleared his throat she had a minor heart attack and leapt almost a foot out of her chair, the back of her head colliding with something which let out a muffled sound of pain. She turned in horror to find Loki holding a hand to his nose and lip, grimacing slightly.

"Crap! Loki, I am so sorry! But you have got to stop sneaking up on me like that! Are you okay? Oh my God, I'm such a klutz!"

He waved away her efforts to peer at the damage with his free hand. Why had he been stupid enough to stand right behind her when he knew of her propensity to be easily startled? Of course he'd never admit, even to himself, how attractive she was with her clear blue eyes and dark waves which framed a face as pale as wintry cream. He could never seem to resist the temptation to get a little closer.

Having ascertained that his face was still intact, Loki took his hand from his face and assured Darcy that she had done no permanent damage.

"I came to enquire about a particular song that Miss Foster plays continually around the laboratory."

_Of course Jane was torturing him with her terrible music taste again_, thought Darcy. _Wonder what it is this time._

"The song appears to be called Let It Go and it seems to highly amuse Miss Foster to play it in my presence then giggle incessantly. I was rather hoping you might inform me as to why in Helheim she would do that."

Darcy really tried to hold it in, she really did; but she just couldn't help dissolving into peals of laughter while he stood before her utterly unimpressed. Eventually she managed to pull herself together and apologise.

"I'm sorry; it was just such a major surprise that Jane was first to spot that joke. I was expecting it to be Tony. This calls for a movie night. Tonight ok?"

"I suppose. Am I expected to entertain the rest of the imbeciles as well?"

"Nah, we can just watch it by ourselves. Sevenish? I could bring pizza..."

Despite his bad mood, Loki's face brightened at the mention of pizza and he agreed before leaving to return to work in Jane's lab.

_Don't stare at his ass Darce... damn it!_

It couldn't be helped. The man's ass was glorious, just like the rest of him.

_No! Bad Darcy! Stop lusting after the formerly genocidal god-like alien._

* * *

><p>At seven that evening Darcy Lewis found herself walking the halls of Stark Tower; where Loki had been given an apartment at S.H.I.E.L.D's behest. It wasn't the first time she had visited him there for a movie night, but unlike those times, she would be spending the evening alone with him. She knew Jane would think she had lost her mind, probably Steve too. But Darcy was nothing if not determined. And she was determined to enjoy this evening. Upon reaching Loki's door she smoothed her skirt as best as she could with an armful of pizza box, took a deep breath, and then knocked.<p>

From the apartment came the sound of a curse before the door was pulled open to reveal a shirtless Loki with wet hair. Darcy gulped a little and tried not to ogle the well-defined torso that she happened to be eye-level with.

_Suddenly I don't mind being short as much as I used to._

She stepped past Loki and into the apartment, vaguely aware that the asgardian was apologising for his state of undress and heading towards the bedroom...

"... Jane had us in the lab over an hour longer than usual, so I've running late ever since."

"Hmm... Oh that's ok. She used to be like that for me too. Always wanted me to stay late on the days I planned to do something other than date Netflix."

She had put the pizza on the table and glanced up to see him returning with a deep green t-shirt now covering the view; she breathed an inner sigh of relief. _Like bare-chested Loki wouldn't have been totally distracting._

Moving towards the couch Loki now took in Darcy's appearance. Her usual work clothes and the baggy comfort of Puente Antiguo had been replaced with a slim fitting grey jumper and a skirt in a forest green. _Interesting choice of colour. Definitely a good look._

"Yo Loki! Got any plates? Otherwise I will make a mess. You'd better believe I'm clumsy with pizza"

He went to the kitchen and came back with a couple of plates, finding Darcy opening up the DVD player on his return.

"Ready for a Disney sing-a-long? I love this movie. I mean it's not my favourite, but it's pretty good."

"I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

She hit play and the settled down to their pizza as the filmed opened to the strains of Frozen Heart...

* * *

><p>As the film progressed Loki began to see exactly what Jane and Darcy had found so amusing and became grumpier than ever.<p>

Darcy on the other hand was clearly thoroughly enjoying herself; she was sing along at the top of her lungs and had gasped in mock outrage when Hans had revealed himself as the villain. Grumpy as he was though, even Loki smiled a little at the enthusiasm she showed for the children's movie. And so he couldn't quite bring himself to ruin her night by pointing out all its flaws.

When she turned to him and went "see!? You're totally Elsa!" though, he scowled.

"I fail to see the comparison."

"Oh come on, you're both quiet, and bookish, and isolated. She has ice magic, you're a frost giant; you both think you're monsters and I can totally see you building your own ice fortress of solitude with a big song and dance number..."

He glared at her, and then looked puzzled.

"Wait, what did you say?"

"Which bit? You'd definitely build your own..."

"No, before that."

"You and Elsa both think you're monsters?"

"That. What makes you think that?"

"Well, Elsa never forgave herself for hurting Anna right? You on the other hand can't see yourself as a frost giant without seeing the monster from the bedtime stories of your childhood."

"Thor told you that." His jaw was tight, voice flat.

"Some of it. I worked the rest out for myself. I may have been a political science major, but I took enough psych to bullshit. You stiffen up every time someone brings up your heritage and having heard some of Thor's stories it's not hard to see why."

"Well how would you like looking in a mirror and seeing the creature that haunted the nightmares of your generation?"

"You have to remember that frost giants have never really figured in our culture, so I actually think it must be pretty cool."

The scowl left his face and he stared at her. "You do?"

"Um sure... ooh do I get a demonstration? Can I see? I promise I won't run away screaming. Or laugh." She added as an afterthought.

"You truly wish to see how monstrous I am?"

Darcy nodded. With a sigh Loki concentrated for a moment and as he did so, his skin slowly became a deep, dusky blue, raised patterns appearing on his face and arms.

Darcy could see what it had cost him to show her and wanted to reassure him. She stepped hesitantly towards him and reached a hand towards his face. He flinched away. "Do not touch me." Darcy persisted though, and laid her hand gently on Loki's blue cheek.

"You know, you don't look very monstrous to me. The song and dance you were making about it, I was expecting extra heads or limbs or something. It's still you though, just y'know... blue."

Loki's eyes had been shut when she reached for him; now he opened them, showing her their intense red glow. "And are these not the eye's of a monster?"

Darcy looked carefully into Loki's eyes, before gently and deliberately pressing her lips to his. Loki stiffened in shock for a moment before responding tentatively, deepening the kiss and tangling his fingers gently in her chocolate curls. When they broke apart, Darcy was flushed, but smiling slightly. "I don't see a monster when I look at you anymore, just a man with a shot at redemption. I kinda like Jotun Loki." Even as she spoke he was resuming his asgardian appearance. "I should probably head home. It's getting late. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Indeed. Goodnight Darcy." And he kissed her softly on the cheek before following her to the door.

"Hey Loki? Maybe you should loosen up a bit more; you might feel better about the blue thing if you... let it go."

Still giggling as Loki scowled after her, Darcy made her way to the elevator at the end of the hall.


End file.
